February 3, 2006

Future of hospital technology the focus of leadership meeting

When compared to other academic medical centers, the MGH is often seen as a leader in utilizing information systems, particularly in supporting the hospital's commitment to the quality and safety of patient care. While the hospital has made significant progress in Information Systems (IS), much work is planned for the future. Jim Noga, MGH chief information officer, outlined the current IS projects that will have a significant impact on patient care at a hospitalwide leadership meeting Jan. 30 in the O'Keeffe Auditorium.

According to Noga, the hospital has made excellent progress in reaching the ultimate goal of every patient care area using an electronic medical record. In the ambulatory care practices, 90 percent of primary care physicians and 80 percent of specialists are using electronic records, and the remaining practices are planning to change.

He also gave a status report on current IS projects that affect clinicians. For example, to search for available beds, Admitting Services and Patient Care Services staff will be able to use a new software program called CBEDS (Coordinated Bed Efficiency Dash Board System) by the end of the year. This program will allow users to find available beds electronically as well as search for estimated times of patient transfers and discharges, dramatically improving patient flow.

He also noted that the hospital is working to allow the use of wireless technology in certain patient care areas so that doctors and nurses can use handheld PDA devices to access programs such as Patient Keeper, which shows a particular patient's current location and their most up-to-date diagnostic data. These PDA devices also give the user e-mail access and eventually will be used as cell phones and text pagers. Noga also demonstrated several new technologies that are being piloted in patient care areas such as a new wireless laptop cart to give clinicians bedside access to a computer terminal, and a "smart pen," which allows patients or providers to fill out forms using a pen device that links to a Partners computer terminal to download the written information.

Also at the meeting, Peter L. Slavin, MD, president of the MGH, gave a few brief updates about important hospital operations and initiatives. He reported that the hospital is in a good financial position ending the second quarter, with strong revenue and investment results that seem promising for the rest of the year.

He also outlined plans for the new clinical facility that will replace the Clinics and Vincent Burnham buildings and will connect the Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care to the main campus. This building will increase capacity by offering more inpatient beds, procedure areas and some ambulatory care services. Completion of the building is expected in 2011.

The partnership between the North Shore Medical Center and the MGH to develop an ambulatory care center and medical office building off Route 128 in Danvers has made the local news recently. Slavin noted the importance of this partnership and announced the next step was scheduled to take place later that evening – obtaining zoning approval at the Danvers town meeting. As Hotline goes to press, we have learned that the zoning change was passed by Danvers town council members.

Slavin also announced plans for the hospital to develop a physician education strategic plan, similar to the clinical strategic plan developed two years ago. This plan will focus on the MGH's physician training programs and will be done in conjunction with Partners and BWH. A retreat to discuss the education strategic plan is planned for the spring.

Jeff Davis, senior vice president for Human Resources, closed the meeting with an update about labor relations and employee relations and announced labor relations training sessions for managers to be offered in February and March.